Cast

Janeece Freeman–Tammy

Richard Hollis–Ty

Robert Ross–John

Christa Scott-Reed–Jenna

Christine Wilson–Stage Directions

Awards/Recognition Post Broad Horizons Development​

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Reading: Boston Public Works​

About the Playwright

A 2024 NEA-funded joint commission from Del Webb Center (AZ) and Vivid Stage (NJ). A 2025 recipient of an Individual Artist Grant Fellowship from NJ Council of the Arts. Founding member, NJ’s Swan Dive Theatre Collective, devoted to advancing the work of Women+ artists. Produced off-Broadway, internationally, and nationwide in NYC, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, L.A. NYC development at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Rattlestick, Roundabout, Urban Stages; regionally at The Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva, Victory Gardens, Palm Beach Dramaworks. Winner: Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Julie Harris Playwriting Award, the Israel Baran Award, and a runner up at the Sundance Playwriting Lab, O’Neill

Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Heideman Award and Princess Grace Fellowship. Other honors: nominated for Edmonton’s Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and honorable mention, The Kilroy List. Published by Smith & Kraus and Applause.

About the Play

The Next Big Thing is an impassioned exploration of ambition, moral compromise, and the quest for redemption. Inspired by a Nicholas Kristof column about fistula (a devastating rape-induced condition), the play is a physically demanding piece that addresses these issues at the uncomfortable intersection of art, exploitation, and cultural violence. It is the story of four interconnected and emotionally-charged lives:

• John and Jenna, struggling to reclaim their marriage in the wake of a late-night parking lot rape;

• Tammy, a devastated Congolese woman seeking a new American identity after enduring a horrifying attack in her native country;

• Ty, a manipulative and desperate art aficionado, who commits a violent act against John as payback for helping him get ahead professionally.